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Saturday, April 9, 2011

Turning a technological corner

If you asked me to choose between my laptop and my smartphone I would not really be able to give up either device. But with todays 4-inch plus smartphones and powerful processors and graphical processing unit, I feel like I am turning a technological corner. My HTC Desire HD still cannot replace my computer, but it has advanced enough so I could (not that I would) give up a laptop and settle for a desktop. I really carry my laptop less and less frequently when in the field. Still, I do prefer to lug a laptop between the home and office, rather than have a desktop at each place. Also laptop does not really cost more than a desktop these days. The computer has been relegated to the role of a tool I use to type documents and to blog. I can imagine that someone whose work did not involve preparing long documents would find even less use for a computer these days.

Newer, more powerful laptop interest me less and less. Pretty much any laptop today will do. I look less at the specifications and more at the keyboard, trackpad and case. Good ergonomic and solidly built, and I could care less whether it had a humble AMD Fusion or a mighty Intel Core i7 inside. The HTC Desire HD cost me 90% more than my previous smartphone acquisition (well actually my wife bought my previous smartphone for me), but next time I buy one I definitely will also be buying on the high end of the spectrum. I wonder if that is just me, or if we will see more consumers spending a bit less on their computers and a bit more on their handheld computers. Tablets will also draw away more money for computer sales, though after being amazed with them for a few months, I really have little interest left in a tablet. The only way I would use one, is if someone gave me one. But I do not see myself buying a tablet... well not at least until it can replace my laptop.